GLA Staff Numbers and Costs

Susan Hall: Please can you list the total number of GLA staff and total cost for each year May-April from 2016 to 2020?

The Mayor: During the four years 2016 to 2020 the total number of staff at the GLA, as at 30 April each year, and the costs for staff from 1 May to 30 April, are as follows:
Year
Staff no
Costs
May 2016 to April 2017
817
£46.5m
May 2017 to April 2018
929
£51.7m
May 2018 to April 2019
1045
£59.9m
May 2019 to April 2020
1190
£68.4m

Dependency Leave

Susan Hall: Can you provide a by-directorate breakdown of dependency leave taken at the GLA since the start of lockdown - including total numbers and average figures depending on staff headcount?

The Mayor: During the initial stages of the pandemic, it became clear that our standard provision for dependency leave (5 days per annum) would be insufficient to properly support our colleagues, given the complete breakdown in services faced by parents and carers. We therefore removed an upper limit on the provision of dependency leave to enable the focus to be rightly placed on ensuring that the wellbeing of individuals and their families was paramount. We did, though, ask that individuals undertook what work they were able to do, recognising that this might be at a lesser level than their contracted hours. This often meant that individuals would work during evenings, or at weekends in order to complete work they were unable to do during the standard working day. Many individuals could not commit to a set working pattern, nor necessarily work the same number of hours each week.
We did not ask managers to record all dependency leave on iTrent (our HR system) as we would under normal circumstances, recognising that this was unpredictable, could fluctuate, and that there was already a heavy burden on line managers during this time.
We know that assessments made by directorates locally suggested that we maintained approximately 70 to 80 per cent of our normal workforce capacity during this period, with some staff working very early and very late around care commitments. We have worked closely with UNISON and our staff networks to ensure that individuals continue to feel supported whilst we move back towards the standard application of our HR policies from September.
From the beginning of September, we will be reverting back to our normal policy and will be offering staff 5 days of paid Dependency Leave pro rata for the period September 2020 to March 2021.

The Crystal (1)

Navin Shah: Remote working due to the pandemic, while necessary, has caused concern for some members of staff and had an impact on a much wider scale, including work/life balance. I understand that under the proposed move to The Crystal, remote working will continue to be expected from staff due to lack of office space. Has the devastating negative impact on some staff, who have already spent many months working in an unusual environment, been considered?

The Mayor: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic our response to staff has been to support them during these unprecedented times. The majority of our staff have been working solely from home during the lockdown, in order to follow government guidelines. We have put in place a range of support, for example, financial provision for staff for home office equipment to keep them working safely, 1-1 calls to all those who declared a need for a workplace adjustment and open sessions to all staff on Wellbeing and keeping healthy during lockdown.We are also running sessions for staff on our Employee Assistance Provider who can offer support; guidance and counselling on a range of issues from mental health to legal and financial issues.
If the relocation goes ahead, it will commence in Summer 2021. Whilst we cannot know what the situation with regard to COVID-19 will be at this time, the current government guidelines may have eased, therefore enabling travel to workplaces. In the proposal to relocate City Hall, it has been outlined that working from home/remotely will be voluntary. It is anticipated that most staff will likely choose to work between 2-3 days a week remotely, and the rest of their working time they will based at their team’s anchor point at the Crystal, Union Street or Palestra.However, this will vary depending on the role and team and there will still be the need for face to face meetings for all roles.
As part of the consultation exercise, we are going to survey staff to understand their working preferences in more detail which will enable us to do better modelling of capacity in each location. We have also conducted an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) to identify the potential positive and negative impacts for different groups of the proposed relocation and to put in place actions to minimise the potential negative impacts, and we will continue to review and update this EIA with input from consultees.

Where buses go

Andrew Boff: What modelling has taken place to estimate the increased emissions and congestion as a result of black cabs not being allowed to use all of the same routes as buses?

The Mayor: Considering both borough roads and the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), 93 per cent of bus lanes across London permit taxi access.
In order to aid the central London pandemic recovery, Transport for London is undertaking a number of strategic traffic modelling studies. These studies will provide a better understanding of the combined impact of initiatives that have either been implemented or are proposed to assist the restart of activity in London. This encompasses both the TLRN and London Borough Streetspace proposals. However, it will not be possible for these strategic modelling studies to specifically determine the impact of taxis not being able to use the small number of bus-only areas.

Labour practices in the PPE supply chain

Onkar Sahota: What are you doing to ensure PPE sourced for and distributed by the GLA family meets labour standards and does not support modern slavery?

The Mayor: The responsibility the GLA Group has for the human rights of workers in our global supply chains is one I take very seriously. I have asked my Responsible Procurement Team to work with the Functional Bodies of the GLA Group, as they develop their approaches to any strategic sourcing of PPE required in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure that appropriate requirements are included in contracts and agreements to identify and address the risks of labour rights abuses and modern slavery. In doing this we will be able to build on the leading approaches included with Transport for London’s uniforms and workwear contracts, which require all sites of supply to submit annual third party independent audits, and to undertake capacity-building activity with workers and the local community to address underlying causes of human rights abuses.